“The hours I spend with you I look upon as
sort of a perfumed garden, a dim twilight,
and a fountain singing to it. You and you alone make me feel that I am
alive.
Other men it is said have seen angels, but I have seen thee and thou art
enough.”

The early days of the war were notable for a shortage of ships on both
sides. The American navy before the war was not big anyway. A large
number of ships were destroyed at their moorings, sometimes by
Northerners to keep them from being sailed South, in other cases by
Southerners to keep them from the use of the Union. This had led to
great business in the shipyards of Europe, and both sides scurried to
replace the losses. The Confederate-owned steamer Fingal was one such.
Recently bought in England, she was loaded with military supplies. The
Northern blockade effort was still a bit feeble, and she sailed today
without much difficulty into the harbor of Savannah. Fingal would later
be converted into the CSS Atlanta.

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 1862
BICKERDYKE BROWBEATS BANKERS BRUTALLY

The remarkable Mary Ann “Mother” Bickerdyke had been a middle-aged widow
and botanic physician in Galesburg, Illinois when the war broke out.
When her church sent her to take a load of medical supplies to their
regiment in training in Cairo, she had been so horrified by the awful
treatment of the sick that she simply appointed herself director of
hospital services. Against the opposition of the Army doctors, who were
almost exclusively surgeons and therefore had neither knowledge of or
interest in treatments for sickness, she had worked tirelessly to
provide clean quarters, nutritious food and some semblance of nursing
care for the thousands of victims of disease. Today she went on leave.
In her case this consisted of a fundraising tour among the bankers and
other rich folk of Chicago.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 1863
SHERMAN’S SERVICES SORELY SOUGHT

The Army of the Cumberland was eating better these days, thanks to the
opening of the “cracker line” which greatly shortened the distances
required for food to be brought in. Mere avoidance of starvation,
however, did not mean that they were ready for battle to break them out
of Chattanooga, where they had been besieged since the debacle of
Chickamauga Creek. Gen. U. S. Grant, who had fired commanding Gen.
Rosecrans and taken over the scene himself, was awaiting one final
factor he felt necessary to get the show on the road: Gen. William T.
Sherman and his 15th Army Corps. That unit was accustomed to fighting
and winning. The other reinforcements which had been provided, two Army
of the Potomac corps under Gen. Hooker, had not had such good fortune in
combat.

Saturday, Nov. 12, 1864
SHERMAN SETS SIGHTS, SLASHES SUPPLIES

Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman had taken Atlanta once already. He had had
to backtrack for the last couple of weeks to dispose of threats in the
rear area, primarily from Gen. John Hood’s forces. These having been
dispersed, or at least reduced to where Gen. Thomas was able to cope
with them from Nashville, Sherman intentionally cut his own lines and
headed back to central Georgia. His four corps totaled 60,000 infantry
and around 5500 artillery pieces. They set out to rendezvous with the
Federal forces Sherman had left to occupy Atlanta. They had been
carrying out their assignment in the deserted town. They had orders to
spare private homes and churches. The rest of the city was in the
process of being destroyed.

He was
getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't
be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The
politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It's easy to forget them,
For no hand did they receive
Just our Joe's and Moe's and Billy's
Went to battle, for this land,

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Thank you
so much, Dools!

FINALLY:

From
LadyHawke's Weekly Jokes - 11/07/11:

"The Plane Truth"

A man has an hour to kill before his flight to
Los Angeles. He
decides to kill some time at an airport bar. He walks in and sits down
next to a clearly nervous guy, who has three empty whisky glasses in
front of him. The man introduces himself to the nervous guy, and buys
him a drink.

1. Thursday, December 1, 2011 - The NNHS Class of 1955 holds Lunch Bunch gatherings on the
first Thursday of every month at Steve & John's Steak House on Jefferson Avenue
just above Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News at 11:00 AM. The luncheon is not
limited to just the Class of '55; if you have friends in that year, go visit
with them.

2. Wednesday, December 14, 2011 - The NNHS Class of June 1942 meets at noon on
the second Wednesday of every other month for a Dutch treat lunch at the James
River Country Club, 1500 Country Club Road. PLEASE JOIN THEM. Give or take a few
years makes no difference. Good conversation, food and atmosphere. For details,
call Jennings Bryan at 803-7701 for reservations.

3. Saturday, January 7, 2012 - 11:00 AM - The NNHS Breakfast Bunch will host a
Breakfast Bunch Brunch at the Warwick Restaurant, 12306 Warwick Boulevard,
(across from CNU) Newport News, Virginia 23606. "Please come join them for a
Dutch Treat Brunch featuring a lot of 'War Stories' and maybe a lie or
two. Everyone is welcome so bring your wife, husband, boy friend, girl friend,
class mate, school friend or whomever you choose." Please RSVP to Bill Roady at
duckbill1@verizon.net or call him at
757-595-0716 so they have a head count.

Hey, look what you have done,
Showing me the sun,
And now it's shining through,
It's nice to be with you.
Hey, I like the things you say,
And I like the way
You do the things you do,
It's nice to be with you.
Each time that I give my heart
To someone new,
They just turn it blue,
But this time is my time,
And my time is all the time
I have to be with you.

So, please, never go away,
Say you're going to stay
And make my dreams come true,
It's nice to be with you.
Each time that I give my heart
To someone new,
They just turn it blue,
But this time is my time,
And my time is all the time
I have to be with you.
So, please, never go away,
Say you're going to stay
And make my dreams come true,
It's so nice to be with you.